Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the Government obligations to monitor the implementation of the principles established in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a legally binding treaty, registered with the UN that remains in force. We believe that the UK has an obligation and a right to monitor its implementation closely, and we are strongly committed to doing so.

Attorney General

Sexual Offences

Robert Halfon: To ask the Attorney General, whether he has had discussions with the CPS on removing reference to the merits-based approach from (a) guidance and (b) training materials on rape and sexual offences.

Lucy Frazer: Rape and serious sexual offences are horrific crimes and can have a devastating impact on victims, and the CPS will always seek to prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so. The Attorney General and I regularly discuss issues related to rape and sexual offences with the CPS; however, charging decisions are made independently by the CPS. There has been no change in policy in how the CPS makes charging decisions in rape cases. Prosecutors in the CPS follow a ‘Code’, which sets out a well-established two stage test that a case must pass before a charge can be made. The first stage of this test is the evidential stage, which considers whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each suspect on each charge. That test has remained and continues to remain the same. It applies to every single offence no matter how minor or serious. The Code that prosecutors follow has never included any specific reference to a merits-based assessment of the realistic prospect of conviction because it is an integral part of the evidential test. The second stage of the test is whether it is in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution, this is considered after the evidential stage is fulfilled. From 2009, DPP guidance included reference to a merits based approach. Following an inspection by HMCPSI in 2016, it became clear that including a separate reference to the merits based approach in the guidance was causing confusion leading to the incorrect application of the code test. To avoid this confusion, changes were made to the guidance provided by the DPP to prosecutors, including removing a document on the merits based approach. Those changes should not have, and did not have any impact on the proper application of the Code test that prosecutors follow when making a decision on whether to charge.

Department of Health and Social Care

Mental Health Services: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Permanent Secretary to the Northern Ireland Department of Health on that Department's working with frontline GP services to ensure that mental health support is available for teenagers immediately.

Jackie Doyle-Price: My Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in England, has had no such discussions with the Permanent Secretary to the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.

Mental Health Services

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients are on a waiting list to receive mental health treatment in (a) Lancashire and (b) England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2019 to Question 238669 on mental health services: veterans, what the outcome was for the armed forces personnel who were referred for mental Health treatment  but did not enter into such treatment in each of the last four quarters.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Health is a devolved matter and as such as we are only able to answer in respect of mental health services provided in England.NHS England does not record the reasons that former armed forces personnel do not attend services to which they are referred; either to main stream services or to the veteran specific NHS Veterans' Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service and does not plan to record such information.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the June 2019 Children's Society report on mental health, what plans he has to narrow the gap between the number of children and adolescents who are referred for mental health treatment by their GP, schools and social services and the number of children and adolescents receiving mental health treatment.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The NHS Long Term Plan sets a goal of an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 years, receiving support via NHS-funded mental health services by 2023/24. The NHS has also committed to funding for children and young people’s mental health services growing as a proportion of all mental health funding for the first time, which will itself grow faster than funding for the NHS overall.Our Green Paper, ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper’ sets out how we plan to increase the availability of support for children and young people, by reaching them in schools or colleges through:- incentivising every school or college to identify and train a senior mental health lead;- creating new mental health support teams in and near schools and colleges; and- piloting a four-week waiting time to ensure swifter access to specialist NHS mental health services for those who need it.

Suicide: North West

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths of patients in the care of each mental health NHS trust in the North West were attributed to suicide in (a) 2017, (b) 2018 (c) 2019; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of deaths by suicide among patients undergoing treatment for mental health problems.

Seema Kennedy: This information is not available in the format requested.The latest information on suicide registrations for 2017 was published by the Office for National Statistics in September 2018 and can be found at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/suicidesintheunitedkingdom/2017registrationsThe latest National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health report was published in October 2018 and is available at the following link:https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/reports/In January 2018, the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Rt. hon. Jeremy Hunt MP) announced a zero suicide ambition for the National Health Service, starting with mental health inpatients. Every NHS mental health provider was required to put in place a zero suicide policy during 2018/19. There has been significant progress made by trusts in developing zero suicide plans, with regional suicide prevention leads supporting trusts to finalise these.For those requiring support for a mental health problem, under the NHS Long Term Plan, there will be a comprehensive expansion of mental health services, with an additional £2.3 billion in real terms by 2023/24. This will give 380,000 more adults access to psychological therapies and 345,000 more children and young people greater support in the next five years.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase early diagnosis of cancers.

Seema Kennedy: To raise awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people with symptoms to go to their doctor without delay, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside Public Health England, have run 15 national Be Clear on Cancer awareness campaigns since 2010/11. A Be Clear on Cancer ‘Blood in pee’ campaign ran across England from July to September 2018, aiming to improve early diagnosis of bladder and kidney cancer. Public Health England launched a new campaign, ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’, on 5 March to promote uptake of cervical screening. As recommended by the UK National Screening Committee and the independent Cancer Taskforce, we are modernising our world-renowned cancer screening programmes by introducing Faecal Immunochemical Testing into the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme as soon as possible and human papillomavirus as the primary test in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme by 2020. NHS England is establishing Rapid Diagnostic Centres across the country to upgrade and bring together the latest diagnostic equipment and expertise. The centres build on the 10 models piloted through the Accelerate, Coordinate and Evaluate programme, which have focussed on diagnosing cancers where patients often present with non-specific symptoms and may go to their general practitioner many times before being sent for appropriate tests. NHS England is extending lung health checks, targeting clinical commissioning groups with the lowest survival rates. In Greater Manchester introducing low dose CT health checks saw an almost five-fold reduction in stage 4 disease, with 80% of cancers diagnosed at an early stage. NHS England awarded around £5 million of funding to improve pathology services in 37 trusts across nine Cancer Alliances at the end of 2017/18.

Mental Health Services: Children

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase spending on low-level mental health support for children to enable the provision of preventative and early intervention services for (a) depression, (b) anxiety, (c) eating disorders and (d) other such conditions.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Through the NHS Long Term Plan, the National Health Service has set a goal of an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25, receiving support via NHS-funded mental health services by 2023/24. The National Health Service has also committed to funding for children and young people’s mental health services growing as a proportion of all mental health funding for the first time, which will itself grow faster than funding for the NHS overall. The Long Term Plan committed at least a further £2.3 billion a year to mental health services by 2023/24 and the Government also pledged £1.25 billion by 2020 to support improvements in children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing for a wide range of mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, along with £150 million for eating disorder services. The National Implementation Framework, when published, will provide further information on how the commitments set out for children and young people’s mental health in the Long Term Plan will be implemented. Our Green Paper ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper’ also sets out how we plan to increase the availability of support for children and young people, by reaching them through schools or colleges.

Abortion: Analgesics

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the release of the Abortion Statistics for England and Wales in 2018 that show a 19 per cent increase in abortions at 24 weeks or more for disability, whether the women who had late term abortions were given the option of painkiller for their unborn baby prior to the termination.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not collected centrally. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has considered the issue of fetal pain and awareness in its guidelines on ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion and Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’. This concluded that “the case for administering analgesia before an invasive procedure (in addition to maternal general anaesthesia) after 24 weeks when the [fetus’] neuroanatomical connections are in place, needs to be considered together with the practicalities and risks of administration of fetal analgesia. Evidence that analgesia confers any benefit on the fetus at any gestation is lacking but should be a focus of future research”.

Abortion: Cleft Lip or Palate

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the recent release of Abortion Statistics for England and Wales 2018 showing that at least 15 unborn babies were terminated due to a cleft palate or cleft lip, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the advice issued to women with unborn children diagnosed with that condition on the procedure to remedy it.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The decision to terminate a pregnancy must rest on the judgement of two doctors, who have to be of one and the same opinion that an abortion meets one of the grounds set out in the Abortion Act 1967, and the woman herself, who must be given enough information and time to help her understand the process so that she can make an informed decision about the options available. When an abnormality is detected or suspected, women and their partners should receive appropriate information and support from a properly trained multidisciplinary team – who must adopt a supportive and non-judgemental approach regardless of whether the decision is to terminate or continue the pregnancy.Diagnosis or prognosis does not always tell the whole picture of each individual case. In 1990, when the grounds for abortion where amended, Parliament agreed that doctors were best placed to make these decisions with the woman and her family. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has published guidance on ‘Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality in England, Scotland and Wales’ to assist doctors and other health professionals to support women and their families when a fetal abnormality is diagnosed and to help women to decide, within the bounds of the law, whether or not to have an abortion.

Abortion: Counselling

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide counselling for women who have had an abortion performed in a private clinic.

Jackie Doyle-Price: All independent sector abortion providers must meet the Required Standard Operating Procedures set out in the Department’s Procedures for the Approval of Independent Sector Places for the Termination of Pregnancy (Abortion). In line with these standards, all women requesting an abortion should be offered the opportunity to discuss their options and choices with, and receive therapeutic support from, a trained pregnancy counsellor. This offer should be repeated at every stage of the care pathway. Post abortion counselling should also be available for those women who require it.

Mental Illness: Debts

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute that 46 per cent of people in problem debt have also been diagnosed with a mental health issue, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Work and Pensions to tackle that issue.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government recognises the impact that debt and financial difficulty can have on mental health and wellbeing. We are committed to eliminating charges applied to patients who may be experiencing a financial crisis when they seek medical evidence from their general practitioner to inform their creditors. On Monday 17 June, the Prime Minister announced a new scheme to support those with problem debt. Breathing Space is a statutory debt repayment plan which aims to give people in problem debt the opportunity to take control of their finances and put them on a sustainable footing. The scheme includes a specific mechanism to make it easier for people experiencing a mental health crisis to access support. The Government consulted on the Breathing Space programme between October 2018 and January 2019 and have recently published a response to the consultation.

5G: Pollinators and Wildlife

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the roll out of the 5G network on wildlife and pollinators.

Seema Kennedy: No assessment of the potential effect of the roll out of the 5G network on wildlife and pollinators has been made.

Wales Office

Agriculture: Wales

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps he will take to support the farming sector in Wales after the UK leaves the EU.

Alun Cairns: The UK Government is committed to ensure that farmers in Wales and across the UK are supported as we leave the UK. That is why we have pledged to continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support for the duration of this Parliament, providing much needed certainty to the agricultural sector across the UK including Wales.

Department for Education

Children's Centres

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 5 June, 2019, Official Report, Column HL122. what the evidential basis for the statement that there are now more children’s centres than at any time prior to 2008.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 20 June 2019



Based on information supplied by local authorities, as at 31 May 2019, there were 2,353 children’s centre and 700 linked sites[1] open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network.Sure Start children’s centres were rolled out in three phases between 2004 and 2010. A National Audit Office memorandum to the Children, Schools and Families Committee in 2009[2] published data on the number of children’s centres rolled out in phases 1 and 2 as set out in the table below. Number of centres during each phaseCumulative totalPhase 1 2004-200611261126Phase 2 2006-200817812907 There are no published records of the number of children’s centres that had been opened by the end of the 2007 calendar year. The 2008 statistic is based on management information that the Department for Education holds on the pattern of children’s centre designations[3] during the roll out of Phase 2 children’s centres between 2006 and 2008. This data shows there were fewer than 2,300 children’s centres prior to 2008.The Department for Education will publish the management information in an ad-hoc statistical release in due course. [1] Source: Get Information about Schools database https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.[2] National Audit Office memorandum to Children’s Schools and Families Committee, 2009 https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/0910_sure_start_memorandum.pdf [3] To count towards children’s centre targets, centres were officially ‘designated’, meaning that they were open and providing some services, with plans in place to deliver all the required services within two years.

Pupil Exclusions: Violence

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school pupils were suspended due to violence-related issues in the last two years.

Nick Gibb: The National Statistics releases ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England’ includes information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions. The releases are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions.In the National tables, table 4 gives exclusions by main reason. The guide to exclusion statistics gives descriptors for each reason category in section 4.4.2, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exclusions-statistics-guide.

Schools: Fire Prevention

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will adopt the recommendations relating to fire safety and classroom notice boards submitted by the British Educational Suppliers Association to his review of Building Bulletin 100.

Nick Gibb: Schools must be safe places in which to work and study. The Department, as part of the regular review of its standards for school buildings, has recently completed research into the flammability of notice boards used in schools. The outcome of this work has been used to clarify the specification the Department uses in relation to noticeboards in new school buildings. The updated specification can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction.The British Educational Suppliers Association responded to our recent call for evidence on Building Bulletin 100, which will be followed by a full public consultation on the guidance and its supporting tools.

Young People: Unemployment

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training.

Anne Milton: The government has raised the participation age to ensure that all young people are supported to continue their education until at least age 18. We have invested nearly £7 billion during academic year 2018/19 to ensure there is a place in education or training for every 16 to 19 year old.Local authorities have a statutory duty to identify and track the participation of 16 and 17 year olds, supporting those who are not participating to do so and making sure that there is sufficient, suitable education and training provision to meet their needs. The September Guarantee places a further duty on local authorities to ensure that all year 11 pupils (and year 12 pupils on 1-year courses) receive an offer of a place in education/training for the following September. It aims to ensure that all young people, regardless of what they achieved in school, understand that there are opportunities that will help them to progress, and to ensure that they get the advice and support they need to find a suitable place.A range of provision is available for young people aged 16 to 24 to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress. This includes traineeships which provide unemployed young people with employability training, work experience and English and maths, and supported internships which offer tailored support for young people aged 16 to 25 who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. In addition, young people aged 19 to 23 are funded to gain a first full level 2 or 3 qualification; English and maths training is funded for young people who have not achieved a level 2 standard; and a range of employability training is available to support young people who are unemployed into work.We are creating further opportunities for young people through the introduction of T levels from September 2020, new technical education courses designed by employers which will give young people a high-quality alternative to A levels. Alongside this, the changes we have made to apprenticeships are giving young people the opportunity to get the high-quality training they need for a rewarding career in a skilled profession.The Careers & Enterprise Company has taken on a more ambitious role by coordinating support for schools and colleges across all the Gatsby Benchmarks. This will build on their progress to date in improving the connections between schools, colleges and employers so that young people raise their aspirations and become aware of the full range of career opportunities available.

Academies Enterprise Trust

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual top slice has been for each school in the Academies Enterprise Trust multi-academy trust (a) in total, (b) for operating costs, (c) for school improvement and (d) for efficiency savings in each year since the trust was founded.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 24 June 2019



Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) is responsible for over 60 schools and over 33,000 pupils.The department can confirm that AET takes a 5% annual top slice. In 2017-18, this was £9.1 million to cover the cost of centralised services such as human resources, estates and facilities, educational support, legal, financial and IT services. This information is included in the Trust’s annual financial statment and further information can be found at:https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06625091/filing-history?page=1.The annual top slice is used by academy trusts to pool funding for services to its academies for which an individual academy would otherwise be responsible. The level of top slice will vary from trust to trust depending on the services provided.

Schools: Bereavement Counselling

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to implement a national bereavement policy for schools to help assist children who have experienced the death of a member of their immediate family.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s Mental Health and Behaviour guidance includes links to sources of information and support, including on how to respond to bereavement and other traumatic events. This includes MindEd, which the Government has funded to provide online advice and training on mental health for all professionals working with children and young people. Information on MindEd is available here: https://www.minded.org.uk/.The Department has also provided advice to schools on how to provide access to high quality school-based counselling, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.Where children need specialist support, it is important that schools are able to make referrals quickly. The NHS long term plan sets out how specialist mental health support will be increased, including through access to crisis care 24 hours a day by 2023/24. It also includes support for at least an additional 345,000 children and young people to access NHS funded mental health services, including through new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges.

Schools: Closures

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) postcode, (b) local authority area and (c) rural and urban classification for each state school that has closed and not reopened in another form in each year since 2000.

Nick Gibb: 654 schools have closed with no direct replacement provision between 1 January 2000 and 21 June 2019. Of these, 183 were designated as rural schools. Between 1 January 2010 and 21 June 2019, 260 schools closed with no direct replacement provision. Of these, 104 were designated as rural schools. A full list can be found attached.Information about all open and closed schools in England is available on Get Information about Schools[1] (the department’s register of schools). This can be found at:www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk.The Ofsted definition of a state funded school has been used. This definition does not include local authority maintained nursery schools, alternative provision, studio schools or university technical colleges. [1] Responsibility for updating Get Information about Schools is shared between the Department, schools and local authorities and therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data.



267249_table
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Apprentices: Taxation

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much apprenticeship levy was paid by levy employers in (a) May 2017 and expired in April 2019 and (b) June 2017 and expired in May 2019 because the funds had not been used.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish from May 2019 the monthly (a) proportion and (b) amount of unused apprenticeship levy following the expiry of the two-year period for its use.

Anne Milton: When employers pay the Apprenticeship Levy, their contribution (as well as a 10% top up) is made available to them via the digital apprenticeship service to spend on apprenticeships in England. We recognise that employers want and need flexibility. Employers have 24 months to spend their levy and levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of funds to other employers. The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds. The amount of funds entering employer’ accounts in June 2017 was £152 million, for which the expiry of unspent funds will occur at the end of June 2019. These figures are for employers in England and include the 10% government top up. The proportion of an employer’s levy contributions made available as funds in their digital apprenticeship service account depends on how many of their employees live in England and the proportion of their pay bill paid to these employees. Unspent funds are used to support existing apprenticeships learners, levy paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training for non-levy paying employers. We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information on a monthly basis.

Foreign Languages: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn foreign languages.

Nick Gibb: Since September 2014, the reformed national curriculum makes it compulsory for pupils in maintained schools to be taught a modern or classical language in Key Stage 2. The Department introduced the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure in 2010 where entry into both modern and ancient language GCSEs count towards the languages element of the EBacc.The modern foreign languages pedagogy pilot commenced in December 2018, managed by a Centre for Excellence and run through nine school-led hubs, is aiming to improve uptake and attainment in languages at Key Stages 3 and 4, and to share best practice especially in disadvantaged areas. We have also launched a pilot project in languages undergraduate mentoring for secondary school pupils to drive up participation in the subject, specifically targeting areas of high disadvantage to extend access to languages for all pupils.

Teachers: Graduates

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to make the teaching profession a more popular choice for graduates.

Nick Gibb: The government’s top priority is to ensure that teaching continues to be an attractive and fulfilling profession. 34,595 teacher trainees were recruited this year, an increase of 8% on 2017/18.We have put in place a range of measures, including generous bursaries, worth up to £26,000, to encourage trainees to key subjects such as languages and physics. We also offer prestigious scholarship schemes, worth up to £28,000, in six subjects including physics, maths and languages: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-initial-teacher-training-itt-academic-year-2018-to-19.In January we launched the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy. Designed collaboratively with the sector, the centrepiece of the strategy is the Early Career Framework, which will underpin a fully-funded, two-year support package for new teachers, providing them with the early career support enjoyed by other top professions.In the strategy we committed to making it easier for great people to become teachers, including a new one-stop application service for initial teacher training. We will also launch a new Discover Teaching initiative, giving as many people as possible the opportunity to experience the opportunities that a career in teaching provides. The strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-recruitment-and-retention-strategy.

Climate Change: Education

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to promote learning about climate change in schools.

Nick Gibb: Topics related to climate change are included in both the science and geography curricula and qualifications. Primary school science pupils are taught about how weather changes across the four seasons, and look at how environments can change as a result of human actions.In secondary school, science pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. As part of GCSE geography pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards.In 2017, the Department also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable students to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.

Adoption: Finance

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to extend the adoption support fund to also cover pre-adoption support and transitional support for prospective adopters and adoptive children.

Nadhim Zahawi: In January 2016, we extended access to the adoption support fund to children and their prospective adopters from the point at which the child is placed with them.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults on staff were recorded in each prison in each quarter from 2010 to 2018 by the type of weapon used.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults on staff were recorded in each prison in each quarter from 2010 to 2018 by the type of injury inflicted.

Robert Buckland: Data for the numbers of assaults and serious assaults in each prison, broken down by type of weapon and type of injury, is set out in the attached tables. The figures are presented by calendar year rather than by quarter. This is because analysis at the level of detail requested produces many results of 5 or fewer. Disclosure-proofing to reduce the risk of identification, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, requires such low numbers to be suppressed. Even at the annual level, some such values have had to be suppressed. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in prisons. We have recruited over 4,700 more prison officers since October 2016, and we now have the greatest number in post since early 2012. The Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan case management process for prisoners at risk of violence has been mandated for all prisons to help staff to manage violent prisoners and those identified as posing a raised risk of being violent. We are investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency, and equipping officers with PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents. We are improving perimeter security and introducing new x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs and dedicated search teams to address the supply of drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody.

Prisoners: Females

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of progress in reducing the women’s prison population since June 2018 publication of the Female Offender Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: In the Female Offender Strategy, we set out our vision to see fewer women in custody, particularly on short custodial sentences and to see more women supported in the community. The strategy launched an ambitious programme of work which will take several years to deliver. So far, we have published a new Women’s Policy Framework, Lord Farmer’s Review for Women and invested £5m to support community provision for female offenders and women at risk of offendingWe are committed to monitoring progress over time and taking action to deliver the outcomes we set out to achieve. The latest published statistics show that the total female prison population increased slightly (by 1%) between March 2018 and 2019, but that female first receptions have decreased by 10% over the past year, (from 2,036 between October and December 2017 to 1,840 over the same period in 2018).The published data setting out the current and previous female prison population can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796904/population-31-march-2019.ods

Ministry of Justice: Telephone Services

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2019 to Question 253551 on Ministry of Justice: telephone services, on what date that helpline was set up; how many calls that helpline received in each month from the date it was set up to 30 April 2019; what promotional material was used to advertise that helpline's use; and whether that helpline is still in use.

Edward Argar: The attached table shows the number of calls received by each telephone line, these go back as far as data is available. The CICA phoneline was set up in 2007/2008. HMCTS centralised its telephone service to go through their Loughborough Contact Centre in 2011. The LAA phonelines have existed in various formats for the past 17 years. OPG do not have the exact date that the phone line was set up. All phonelines are still in use. All numbers are advertised on relevant department websites and some are included on letterheads and corporate literature.



Table
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Crimes of Violence: Sentencing

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people convicted of violent offences did not receive an immediate custodial sentence in each year since 1993.

Robert Buckland: The number and proportion of people convicted for offences classified in the indictable offence group ‘violence against the person’ and who received a non-custodial sentence or suspended sentence in each year since 1993 can be viewed in the table attached. Changes in custody rates over the period will reflect a number of factors, including changes in offence mix and policy and sentencing decisions. The proportion of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for violent offences in 2018 was at its highest level in this time period.



Table
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Criminal Injuries Compensation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, since 2010 how many claims have been rejected by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority because the application was made more than two years following the criminal incident.

Edward Argar: The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the Scheme), which was approved by Parliament, sets out the time limits in which applications must be received by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA publishes data about the number of claims rejected for being out with the time limit in its annual reports and accounts at: https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?organisations%5B%5D=criminal-injuries-compensation-authority&parent=criminal-injuries-compensation-authority In the 2017-18 annual report and accounts, this data was presented as a proportion of all refusal reasons used. The number of cases refused for being submitted out with the time limit was 1252. The figures published in the annual reports and accounts show the number of times each rejection reason was used. For some applications there will have been more than one reason for rejection. This means that the total number of reasons for rejection is higher than the actual number of claims refused.

Hull Prison: Labour Turnover

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the proportion of staff turnover has been in HMP Hull in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: HMPPS have recruited an extra 4,700 officers in the past two years to help ease the burden on our hard-working prison staff and the leaving rate remains broadly in the normal range for workforces of this type. Staffing levels are at their highest since 2012. Table 1: Underlying leaving rate of permanent1 staff in HMP Hull - 2009-10 to 2018-19  Leavers2Average SIPRate (%)12 Months to 31st March 2010135082.612 Months to 31st March 2011305016.012 Months to 31st March 2012104962.012 Months to 31st March 2013164983.212 Months to 31st March 201494232.112 Months to 31st March 2015123743.212 Months to 31st March 201694082.212 Months to 31st March 2017364168.612 Months to 31st March 2018324427.212 Months to 31st March 20195849111.8Notes to Table 1Staff with a permanent contract of employment with HMPPSDoes not include voluntary early departure or redundancy.We want prison officers to stay and progress their careers. We have improved induction processes to ease transition into the job, provide care and support for our staff and offer additional training. These measures are part of the work we are doing directly with Governors to address local issues and ensure experienced staff and new recruits remain in the service.

Committal Proceedings: Council Tax

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many committal proceedings have been started against people for council tax non-payment in each year between 2010 and 2018.

Paul Maynard: The table below shows the numbers of committal orders issued as a result of proceedings against people for council tax non-payment since 2010. 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/1811111698110866510634  The department does not hold information on how many proceedings have been started.

Prisoners: Females

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of cases where a female was sent to prison and her children were subsequently taken into local authority care in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not collected centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We know female prisoners are more likely than male prisoners to be a primary carer and imprisoned mothers are more likely to be living with their children prior to custody: around 60% of women in prison compared with about 45% of men. However, currently the Ministry of Justice does not routinely capture data about what happens to children when their parents are held in custody. Lord Farmer’s Review “The Importance of Strengthening Female Offenders' Family and otherRelationships to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime” was published on 18 June. We welcome Lord Farmer’s report and are committed to moving forward with reforms on this important subject. We will look closely at the report’s findings and recommendations to see how we can best give effect to them. This includes recommendation 5 on improving data collected on the dependants of female offenders.

Courts: Buildings

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints his Department has received from witnesses and victims on a failure to provide separate entrances and waiting areas in courts in England and Wales in each of the last three years.

Paul Maynard: Over the past three years, the number of complaints recorded about courts in England and Wales not having separate entrances and waiting areas for witnesses and victims is as follows: Financial yearNumber recorded2018/1992017/1852016/173  Our Victims Strategy, published last year, commits to improving court environments with new victim-friendly waiting areas and an emphasis on accessibility for the most vulnerable.

Courts

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what redress a victim or witness has if special measures are requested in court but are not subsequently provided.

Robert Buckland: There are many statutory protections that support vulnerable victims and witnesses in the criminal courts, for example banning cross examination of rape complainants by the defendant. In addition, a number of special measures can be applied for by the CPS to further support a victim or witness who is intimidated or vulnerable, for example the provision of protective screens. Such applications are considered by the trial judge. Should circumstances change during the trial it is possible for a late (or second) application to be made. Where applications are refused, it may be possible to appeal at the Court of Appeal or, in certain exceptional circumstances, to seek a judicial review.

Prisons: Drugs

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence, (b) type of drug, (c) method of importation and (b) health risks to (i) prisoners and (ii) staff of the presence of illegal drugs in prisons in England and Wales.

Robert Buckland: HMPPS measures the prevalence of drug use in prisons through random mandatory drug testing of prisoners. These test for a wide range of drugs including psychoactive substances as defined in the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016. In 2017/18, 20.4% of samples tested positive for drugs. Psychoactive Substances (PS), as defined in the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, are the most prevalent drug type in prison. Psychoactive substances were present in 60% of all positive samples in 2017/18, overtaking cannabis (28%), opiates (11%) and buprenorphine (10%). HMPPS is continuing to develop its drug testing frameworks to respond to the changing patterns of misuse in prisons. Drugs can enter prison through a number of routes including being thrown over the wall or flown over by drone, via mail, visits, forced recalls (offenders who intentionally breach their licence in order to be recalled), and corrupt staff. The extent to which individual routes are used varies over time and across the estate and is influenced by a range of static and dynamic factors. HMPPS monitors these routes by gathering intelligence and working with law enforcement partners. HMPPS is working with unions, independent scientists and clinicians to assess the impact of secondary exposure to psychoactive substances on staff and prisoners. A program of staff post-exposure biological testing is being expanded and will explore prisoner and staff experiences of secondary exposure to assess the risk. To respond to the risk from drugs in prisons, we are strengthening our gate and perimeter security, drafting specialist search teams into prisons across the country and investing in physical and technical security counter measures. Alongside this, HMPPS has developed a new, national Prison Drugs Strategy, published in April 2019. The strategy outlines how HMPPS is working to restrict the supply of drugs, reduce demand through rehabilitative activities, and support prisoners to build recovery from substance misuse.

Homicide

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of homicides were committed by people on (a) parole and (b) a life licence in England and Wales in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: Under the Probation Serious Further Offence (SFO) Review Procedures, the National Probation Service (NPS) or Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) must undertake a review where an offender under statutory supervision in the community is charged with a qualifying offence – a “notification”. Not every notification results in a conviction for an SFO. SFOs are rare. Less than 0.1% of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of murder, and less than 0.5% convicted of any SFO. Nonetheless, every single SFO is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any lessons for the better management of future cases. We have interpreted ‘parole’ to mean offenders subject to indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) released by the Parole Board. Table 1 below sets out the number of offenders convicted of murder, who at the time they committed the offence were being supervised on a) an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection and b) life licence in England and Wales between 2016 and 2018. Table 2 201620172018a) Offenders supervised on an IPP sentence123b) Offenders supervised on life licence261The data provided are provisional figures subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.There were no other serious further offences of homicide such as manslaughter or infanticide.The data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to any trial, where a Court has ruled that they were responsible.Data is not included on any determinate sentence prisoner either released automatically or released by the parole board early from an extended determinate sentence or following recall.Data Sources and Quality .We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing We are not able to present the number of murders committed by offenders subject to probation supervision as a proportion of all murders and homicides, as there are differences in the way the respective data sets are produced. Published Homicide Index data are based on the year when the offence was recorded as a crime, not when the offence took place or when the case was heard in court. SFO data are first recorded when the notification, usually triggered by the court appearance, is received by the SFO Team in Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. However, in some cases it will be the following year(s) when the offender is convicted of the SFO

Prisoners' Release: Curfews

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people released from prison on a home detention curfew were subsequently returned to prison as a result of a breach of that condition in each of the last five years.

Robert Buckland: Prisoners sentenced to a standard determinate custodial sentence must be released automatically at the halfway point of their sentence. Those sentenced to at least 12 weeks but less than four years may be released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) up to 135 days before the halfway point, depending on sentence length. HDC is a robust scheme which allows suitable, risk assessed, prisoners to work towards rehabilitation in the community, while remaining subject to strict monitoring and other conditions. If they breach these, they can be returned to custody. HDC allows reintegration back into the community in a controlled and supervised way, which research suggests may help to reduce the risk of further offending. Offenders released on HDC are subject to electronically monitored curfew conditions in addition to the general conditions of supervision required for offenders released on license but not on HDC. Most HDC recalls are for curfew-related breaches, for example missing the curfew, tampering with the equipment or technical inability to monitor, such as where the offender loses their accommodation. The rest relate to breaches of the general supervision conditions, such as failing to keep in touch with the offender manager or being charged with a further offence.We have not published to that level of detail since 2014. Of the 842 recalls that year, 650 were EM Curfew related. The table below shows the number of people released on HDC, recalled to prison whilst on HDC, and the proportion of those released who were so recalled in each of the last five years. Releases and Recall on HDC, England and Wales 2014-18 20142015(1)201620172018Number released on HDC8,6148,3199,0419,31214,769Number of HDC recalls(2)842569 (3)542698*Percentage Recalled10%7%6%7% (1) Figures for year 2015 and earlier were produced using an older methodology. (2) Includes all recalls during the HDC period(3) From 2015 we began to record the number of releases in that year ending in recall, including where the recall takes place the following year - so that the release and recall can be linked. Until 2014 we simply recorded the number of recalls in the year regardless of year of release.* Unavailable The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing

Prisoners' Release

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released from prisons in England and Wales (a) before and (b) after their official release date in each of the last five years.

Robert Buckland: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Figures on all releases in error, where prisoners are wrongly discharged from an establishment or court when they should have remained in custody with no deliberate prisoner involvement in the error, are published as part of the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Digest. The latest publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-hm-prison-and-probation-service-digest-2017-to-2018

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 248641, what criteria the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority uses to determine who cannot afford the cost of providing initial medical evidence up to a maximum cost of £50.

Edward Argar: The criteria used by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in determining whether an applicant cannot afford the cost of obtaining medical evidence is outlined in its internal guidance. This states: If the applicant tells us they cannot afford to obtain medical evidence we may meet the cost of doing so and deduct it from any award we make, up to a maximum of £50. However, before we do so you should ask the applicant for evidence of their inability to meet the cost. You should consider all the relevant circumstances in deciding whether you accept the applicant cannot afford to pay for the medical evidence. Some factors you should consider include:  • whether they are relying solely on any of the benefits listed [as Jobseeker’s Allowance or low-income benefits on gov.uk];  • whether they have a low income and are in receipt of any of the tax credits as listed [on gov.uk] • whether they earn less than the minimum amount needed to qualify for Statutory Sick Pay as evidenced by a pay statement or letter from their employer or, if self-employed, copies of their most recent tax returns; or  • whether they are struggling to manage significant debts, bankruptcy or insolvency.

Offences against Children: Sports

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to include sports coaches in the Position of Trust law.

Paul Maynard: Any sexual activity with a child under 16 is a criminal offence, regardless of whether consent is given. Any non-consensual sexual activity is also a crime, whatever the age of the victim and whatever the relationship between the victim and perpetrator. I do recognise that there are concerns about those who might abuse their position of power over a 16 or 17-year-old to pressure them into engaging in a sexual relationship. Such behaviour is very likely to be caught by the robust laws we already have in place. However, we remain absolutely committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse and we want to ensure that existing offences are being used effectively to tackle this behaviour, and that those working with young people understand their responsibilities and act appropriately. My department, working closely with colleagues across government, is taking forward an internal review of the existing law, to check that that it is working effectively and ensuring young people are protected.

Prison Officers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff were deployed on detached duty in each month of 2018.

Robert Buckland: Detached Duty (DD) is one of the sensible and proportionate measures we take to ensure we run safe and decent regimes in prisons and respond appropriately to any operational issues that arise. The deployment of staff between prisons on DD is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing; the number of Prison Officers deployed on DD varies from one week to the next in order to reflect operational circumstances. Detached Duty is allocated on a cycle (4 week average) rather than on a month by month basis. Annex A shows the average number of staff deployed in each Detached Duty cycle in 2018.



Annex A
(Word Document, 13.14 KB)

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Neighbourhood Plans

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support he is providing to local communities (a) in the preparation of Neighbourhood Plans and (b) facing legal challenges from prospective developers to their Neighbourhood Plan proposals.

Kit Malthouse: Government is making available £34.5 million of support for neighbourhood planning for 2018-22. This is comprised of our £26 million Neighbourhood Planning Support Programme and an additional £8.5 million funding, announced in May, to help communities bring forward affordable homes for sale in their neighbourhood plans. The revised National Planning Policy Framework confirms the important protections for neighbourhood plans and we will continue to look at ways in which Government can help strengthen and protect them.

Social Rented Housing

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people in (a) Preston constituency, (b) Lancashire and (c) England are waiting to be rehoused with a registered social landlord.

Kit Malthouse: The number of households in the housing data list by local authority district can be found in Section C of the published tables from the Local Authority Housing Statistics. The latest published information, for 2017-18 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2017-to-2018  The department does not collect these data by parliamentary constituency.

Solar Power: Housing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether solar energy and storage will be mandated in all new homes before 2025 when building regulations Part L are next reviewed.

Kit Malthouse: The Building Regulations set minimum energy performance standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. They are deliberately couched in performance terms and do not prescribe the technologies, materials or fuels to be used.We are, however, planning to consult later this year on an uplift to the Building Regulations energy efficiency standards where there are safe, practical, cost-effective, and affordable opportunities to do so.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of the flats in (a) Barandon Walk, (b) Testerton Walk, (c) Hurstway Walk, (d) Treadgold House and (e) Bramley House are waiting to be deep cleaned after the Grenfell Tower fire; and of those flats how many are (i) occupied and (ii) empty.

Kit Malthouse: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) report that over 300 properties on the Lancaster West Estate have been deep cleaned, the majority of which are located on Barandon Walk, Testerton Walk, Hurstway Walk, Treadgold House, or Bramley House.58 properties from Barandon Walk, Testerton Walk, Hurstway Walk, Treadgold House, or Bramley House are void properties, either awaiting or currently undergoing refurbishment work, which will include deep cleaning, before they are re-let through the estate’s Local Lettings Plan. The only other properties on the estate that have not been deep cleaned are properties where the household has chosen not to accept the offer of cleaning; or properties that are not currently occupied, pending a decision from the household on whether to return to their home. Where households do choose to return home, RBKC will work with them to identify and carry out the cleaning required. No household is expected to return home before cleaning has been completed.

Council Housing: Waiting Lists

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what algorithm is used by local authorities to process council house waiting lists.

Kit Malthouse: Local authorities have freedom to set their own criteria determining who qualifies for social housing in their district, through changes introduced in the Localism Act 2011, and how this is delivered. However, they must ensure that reasonable preference (overall priority) for social housing is given to certain categories of people in housing need, including homeless households, people living in overcrowded housing, and those who have medical and welfare needs.In the social housing green paper we set out our intention to undertake an evidence collection exercise to help us understand how the allocations system is working and whether it is striking the right balance between fairness, support and aspiration.

Department for Work and Pensions

Local Housing Allowance

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to restore local housing allowance rates to cover the cheapest third of local rents.

Will Quince: The benefit freeze is coming to an end in March 2020. Specific decisions on how to uprate benefits from April 2020 (including the Local Housing Allowance) will form part of the discussions in support of fiscal events later this year.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants who applied for a budgeting advance (a) received the maximum available advance and (b) chose to repay over the maximum time period allowed.

Alok Sharma: A budgeting advance is available for one-off unexpected financial events for Universal Credit claimants and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Claimants might be able to get help for things such as: emergency household costs, getting a job or staying in work or funeral costs. Of the 485,000 budgeting advances created, between June 2015 and May 2019, 49% took the maximum entitlement and 78% chose to take the maximum repayment length. From October 2021 we will be increasing the recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months, further supporting those in financial need. Notes  Figures relate to Universal Credit full service only Figures relate to total number of budgeting advances since their introduction Figures for the number of budgeting advances created is rounded to the nearest 1,000  Budgeting advances with a value of £348, £464 and £812 have been used for proportion of claimants receiving the maximum available advance, as these values relate to the maximum entitlement dependent on the claimant's circumstances.

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of universal credit have been successful in an application for a budgeting advance.

Alok Sharma: A budgeting advance is available for one-off unexpected financial events for Universal Credit claimants and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Claimants might be able to get help for things such as: emergency household costs, getting a job or staying in work or funeral costs.Between June 2015 and May 2019, 404,000 Universal Credit claims have received a budgeting advance. Notes Figures relate to Universal Credit full service onlyFigures relate to total number of budgeting advances since their introductionFigures are rounded to the nearest 1,000Where a claim has received multiple budgeting advances they have only been counted once

Universal Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department issues guidance or criteria to its staff on the circumstances in which a request from a universal credit claimant for an advance payment for a (a) new claim and (b) benefit transfer should not be granted.

Alok Sharma: Comprehensive guidance on Universal Credit Advance payments is available to all staff. This guidance is published in the Commons library and the Department is committed to refreshing this at regular intervals. http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2019-0465/Advances-_New_Claim_v2.0.pdf http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2019-0465/Advances_-_Benefit_Transfer_v3.0.pdf

Universal Credit

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase financial support for vulnerable claimants of universal credit to ensure that the amount of benefit they receive is not lower than what they received through the legacy system.

Alok Sharma: Claimants currently only move from existing benefits to Universal Credit when they experience a significant change in their circumstances that triggers a new claim to a benefit that Universal Credit replaces. Their entitlement is then calculated on the rules of their new benefit and their new circumstances. For those claimants who are moved onto Universal Credit without a change in their circumstances, the Department has committed to providing transitional protection to ensure that they see no decrease in their benefit entitlement at the point of transition. There are £2.4 billion of unclaimed legacy benefits not going to the people who need them, because they do not know that they are entitled to them or how to claim. Universal Credit makes sure that welfare payments reach those who need them most. We have also introduced a number of measures to assist claimants during their transition to Universal Credit. Claimants moving onto Universal Credit can access a Universal Credit advance, which is worth up to 100 per cent of their indicative award and is available from the date of their claim. This advance is currently repayable over 12 months, but as announced in the 2018 Budget, from October 2021 the maximum repayment period will be extended to 16 months. Claimants may also be entitled to a two-week Universal Credit Transitional Housing Payment. From July 2020 the Government is introducing a new two-week run on for income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many vulnerable claimants received a benefits sanction without (a) receiving a home visit and (b) notifying a third-party agency in 2018-19.

Alok Sharma: To obtain the details requested would require scrutiny of thousands of individual benefit claims. Therefore, the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rivers: Microplastics

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) track and (b) reduce the volume of microplastics in rivers; and whether his Department plans to introduce an independent regulatory body to enforce and monitor the reduction of microplastics in wastewater and rivers.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra is working with the Environment Agency, Highways England, academics and the UK water industry to understand the scale of the microplastic pollution problem and to establish detection methods to monitor, characterise and quantify the types of microplastics entering our rivers. There has been substantive research reporting the presence and impacts of microplastics in the marine environment. However, little is known about their sources, release and impact on freshwaters and their ultimate transport to the marine environment. Defra has commissioned evidence reviews to further understand these issues and will use the outcomes from these and other research to develop policy options. The Government has set a target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within the lifetime of the 25 year Environment Plan (by 2042) and set aside £20 million for research and development managed through the Plastics Innovation Fund in March 2018. A further £10 million was committed in the 2018 Autumn Budget for continued/additional plastics research and development along with £10 million to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.  The Department does not plan to introduce an independent regulatory body to enforce and monitor the reduction of microplastics in wastewaters and receiving rivers.

Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the powers provided for the Caravan and Motorhome Club under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960; and if he will make a statement.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the powers of the Caravan and Motorhome Club under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has not made any recent assessment of the adequacy of the powers under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, or of the merits of updating them. We are not undertaking any work to that effect.

Livestock: Animal Welfare

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what welfare protections will be put in place for caged animals as part of the Agriculture Bill.

David Rutley: The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare and the welfare of our farmed livestock is protected by comprehensive and robust legislation. This is backed up by statutory species specific welfare codes, which encourage high standards of husbandry and which keepers are required by law to have access to and be familiar with. Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors and local authorities conduct inspections on farms to check that the animal welfare standards are being met. Whatever the system of production, the most important factor in determining animal welfare is good stockmanship and the correct application of husbandry standards. This reflects the advice of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee. We have already banned cages or close confinement systems where there is clear scientific evidence that they are detrimental to animal health and welfare. For example, we banned the keeping of calves in veal crates in 1990, the keeping of sows in close confinement stalls in the UK in 1999, and the use of conventional (‘battery’) cages for laying hens in 2012. The Government will maintain its high regulatory baseline and look to raise standards sustainably over time as new research and evidence emerges. We have been very clear that our departure from the EU will not lead to a lowering of our high animal welfare standards. Our regulatory system will offer the same level of assurance of animal welfare following exit as it does now and we are actively exploring options for strengthening the UK system moving forward. We have introduced mandatory CCTV in abattoirs and are looking to control exports of live animals for slaughter. On 26 June, the Government introduced a Bill to enable tougher prison sentences for the worst animal abusers. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill means that animal abusers could face up to five years in prison, a significant increase from the current maximum sentence of six months. Courts will be able to take a firmer approach to cases such as dog fighting, abuse of puppies and kittens, or gross neglect of farm animals. In England, we intend to use the powers in the Agriculture Bill to develop publicly funded schemes for farmers to deliver animal welfare enhancements beyond our high regulatory baseline that are not sufficiently rewarded by the market, and also want to provide greater transparency and certainty for consumers and for farmers. We will work with industry, retailers, welfare groups and the Farm Animal Welfare Committee to define these enhancements.

Plastics: Waste

Ross Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much of the UK's plastic waste has been shipped to other countries since 2010.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Since 2010 the amount of plastic waste exported to other countries for reprocessing has fallen from 850,000 tonnes a year in 2010 to 600,000 tonnes in 2018. In total over this period around 7 million tonnes have been shipped. This is based on HM Revenue and Customs trade data. The UK is recycling more than ever, achieving a 46% plastic packaging recycling rate in 2017 and exceeding the EU target of 22.5%.The Government is clear we must export less waste and that any waste we do need to export is properly handled. The recently published Resources and Waste Strategy is focused on increasing the supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK, thereby reducing exports of plastic waste. Any waste that will be managed abroad must be subject to strict controls and the government is committed to strengthening these controls.

Radioactive Waste

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the environmental effects of the dumping of radioactive waste in Hurd Deep and Atlantic Deep as detailed in the Ministry of Defence archived document entitled British Isles Explosive Dumping Grounds.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Dumping of radioactive waste (before being banned under the London Convention of 1972 for highly contaminated and in 1993 for low contaminated waste) was subject to approval by the MAFF Approval Committee, whose procedures included careful checks on the containment and transport of the waste. Both the Hurd Deep and Atlantic Deep sites have been subject to monitoring. Hurd Deep: From 1946 to 1993, the UK disposed of amounts of both civilian and radioactive waste at sea, in accordance with national policy and legislation, and with later international agreements regulating such disposals. These disposals were seen at the time as routine and uncontroversial. The total estimated activities in curies (TBq) for these dumpings were: Alpha activity, 400 curies (14.8 TBq); Beta-Gamma activity, 1,200 curies (44.4 TBq). The very low active waste (mainly sludges) dumped into the Hurd Deep was packed in approved light metal drums to permit rapid dispersion of the contents. The UK regularly monitors the Channel Island States and report the results in the annually produced RIFE (Radioactivity in Food and the Environment) report series. These reports can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/radioactivity-in-food-and-the-environment-rife-reports In addition, Cefas and the Food Standards Agency have jointly published a peer reviewed paper (MARINE RADIOACTIVITY IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS, 1990 – 2009) which looked further at time trends over around 20 years. UK monitoring shows that there is no evidence for significant releases of radioactivity from the Hurd Deep site and the effects of discharges from local sources have continued to be of negligible radiological significance. North Atlantic Dump site: The Nuclear Energy Agency’s (NEA) surveillance of the North-East Atlantic dump site used by OECD/NEA member countries (including the UK) started in 1977 and ended in 1995. In 1985, the OECD/NEA Co-ordinated Research and Environmental Surveillance Programme (CRESP) delivered a report on the dump site. The report concluded that the North-East Atlantic dump site posed negligible human radiological risk although the report noted that in the absence of baseline data on the benthic biology, it was difficult to draw firm conclusions about the environmental impacts. A new report on the dump site conducted by CRESP in 1996 reached the same conclusions. A summary of the “Historic Dumping of Low-Level Radioactive Waste in the North-East Atlantic” was recently compiled by the Radioactive Substances Committee of OSPAR. OSPAR’s document can be found here:https://www.ospar.org/site/assets/files/1173/factsheet_historic_dumping_final.pdf

Wood-burning Stoves

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government is reviewing the planning regulations on the installation of wood burning stove chimneys near residential properties as part of the ongoing review into domestic fuel burners.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: No. The focus is on the fuels used and guidance on how stoves should be best used.

Home Office

Evidence: DNA

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent review of the Home Office response to the mandating of DNA evidence for immigration purposes and pursuant to the Answers of 18 June 2019 to Questions 264449 and 264448, whether the Home Office has contacted every person who was identified by the review but not originally identified by his Department.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office continues to proactively and reactively contact all those known to have been affected by the mandating of DNA evidence and offer redress where appropriate. This includes the additional customers highlighted by the Review.

Immigration: Syria

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the revenue accrued to the public purse as a result of fees levied on citizenship applications for children from Syria.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not record fees received from applications by children or the country of origin separately to unique account codes within our accounting software, and therefore does not have sufficiently detailed management information to breakdown income into component categories, for example by child or country of application.

Visas

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of the priority service is for visa applications to the UK in each country in which they are issued.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost is of the priority service for visa applications to the UK in New Delhi.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  what the cost is of the super priority service for visa applications to the UK in each country that those visas are issued.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost is of the super priority service for visa applications to the UK in New Delhi.

Caroline Nokes: The fees for the priority visa application services for applications made outside the UK are:£573 for priority settlement service,£220 for priority visa service (other than settlement), and £956 for super priority visa service for decisions within one working dayThese fees are applicable equally across all countries, irrespective of where the application is made.

Offensive Weapons

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the production of firearms and offensive weapons using 3D printers.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is already an offence to manufacture, possess, purchase or sell firearms without a licence, and this applies equally to 3D printed guns as to other firearms. It is also an offence to manufacture, import and supply offensive weapons, including any produced using 3D printing.

Heroin

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been charged with the distribution of heroin in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and holds data on crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, and outcomes recorded for these crimes. The table below shows the number of charge/summons outcomes recorded for offences of the supply or intent to supply of heroin.Table 1: Number of charged/summonsed outcomes recorded for offences involving supply or intent to supply with heroin; England & WalesCalendar YearSupplyPossession with intent to supplyTotal20148841,2632,14720151,0711,6762,74720168731,6462,51920171,0701,6712,74120187141,3072,021Total4,6127,56312,175Source: Home Office Data Hub

Treasury

Energy: VAT

Dr David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2019 to Question 258958 on Solar Power: VAT, which energy saving products will be subject to the proposed rise in VAT.

Jesse Norman: HMRC expect that the vast majority of energy saving materials will be unaffected by this change. This includes insulation, central heating or hot water system controls, solar panels, ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, micro combined heat and power units, and boilers designed to be fueled by vegetal matter.

Taxation: Electronic Government

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is planning to extend mandation of Making Tax Digital to other taxes.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to publish the planned consultation on the design of Making Tax Digital for corporation tax.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Making Tax Digital for corporation tax will follow the same model as Making Tax Digital for income tax with a move to quarterly updates.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans for a further consultation on the process for (a) year-end adjustments and (b) the design of software for (i) making tax digital for income tax and (ii) making tax digital for corporation tax in relation to the working practices of businesses and their (A) accountants, (B) agents and (C) advisers.

Jesse Norman: At Spring Statement 2019, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that mandation of Making Tax Digital (MTD) would not be extended to any new taxes or businesses next year. The Government will formally consult before any decision is taken to proceed with MTD for Corporation Tax, including on how the process will work in practice, with announcement to be considered as part of the fiscal events process, and made in due course. HMRC will continue to work closely with both software providers and stakeholders representing businesses and agents, so that the MTD service takes full account of the way businesses and their advisers operate.

Imports: VAT

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has plans to introduce postponed accounting for VAT for importers in the event that the UK leaves the EU with a deal.

Jesse Norman: Businesses currently benefit from postponed accounting for VAT when importing goods from the EU. The Government recognises the importance of such arrangements to business due to the cash flow advantage they provide. The Government will take this into account when considering potential changes following EU exit.

Cryptocurrencies: Facebook

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of plans by Facebook to launch its own crypto-currency, Libra, on the stability of the financial system.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the effect of the Facebook crypto currency Libra on the stability of the financial system.

John Glen: The Government does not comment on the proposed business models of individual companies. More broadly, the Government established the Cryptoassets Taskforce – comprised of HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England – to explore the risks and potential benefits associated with cryptoassets and other applications of distributed ledger technology. The Taskforce’s final report[1] found that cryptoassets do not currently pose a material threat to UK or global financial stability, however this could change in the future, and the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee will continue to monitor the situation. Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, as well as international counterparts, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel [1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/752070/cryptoassets_taskforce_final_report_final_web.pdf

Dementia: Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to ensure that dementia care is adequately funded in the next Spending Review.

Elizabeth Truss: The Spending Review represents an opportunity to consider public spending priorities in the round, and the Treasury will be working closely with departments on funding issues, and with a renewed focus on delivering outcomes.

Pharmacy

Chris Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to identify and deliver efficiencies in the pharmacy sector.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department of Health & Social Care, with NHS England and NHS Improvement, is currently in the process of working with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) to determine the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework settlement for 2019/20. These are confidential negotiations and as such I am unable to provide any detail on these discussions at this time. The Government is committed however to working with the PSNC to deliver a fair settlement for the NHS services community pharmacies provide; one which will enable the Government to deliver our longer-term ambition of fully integrated primary medical and community services, whilst also allowing us to realise opportunities to increase value for money.

Public Sector: Redundancy Pay

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a lower earnings threshold exemption for exit payments in the public sector.

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that proposals to cap exit payments in the public sector does not have a disproportionate effect on (a) women and (b) older people.

Elizabeth Truss: The government has previously consulted and legislated on the policy for a cap of £95,000 on exit payments in the public sector. The consultation published on 10 April 2019 seeks views on the draft regulations to implement this policy.An equalities impact assessment was conducted and published in the 2016 consultation ahead of the primary legislation. Following the current consultation, a further equalities assessment will be conducted on the final version of the legislation.The government is aware of concerns about the impact of the cap on long serving workers and workers that cannot be categorised as amongst the best paid. The government was clear during the passage of the primary legislation that the cap will have no impact on the large majority of public sector workers. The proposed cap, amounting to six times the maximum statutory redundancy entitlement, will still offer a significant level of compensation and support to employees who must support their families, find new employment or as a bridge until retirement age. We accept that there will be some circumstances where it is necessary or desirable to relax the cap. The waiver is in place for use in exceptional situations, including where imposing the cap would cause genuine hardship.

Departmental Coordination: Carbon Emissions

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure cross-departmental spending decisions support the transition to a net zero economy.

Elizabeth Truss: Environmental objectives are always fully considered as part of Treasury spending and policy decisions, including at the next Spending Review. The Treasury has accepted the recommendation from the Committee on Climate change to conduct a review into the costs of decarbonisation. The Review will consider how to achieve this transition in a way that works for households, businesses and public finances, as well as the implications for UK competitiveness. The next Spending Review will build on experience and lessons learnt from previous events and aim to ensure that policy issues are considered across departmental boundaries.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Television: Licensing

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government plans to take to help protect vulnerable older people from prosecution for unpaid TV licences.

Margot James: The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, not government. The BBC set out in its decision document on the future of the over 75 licence fee concession that enforcement action would be a last resort, and that it will consider ‘people’s vulnerability'.